Do you own a business? Is it running and doing successfully? Wanting a company that works for your business as diligent as you are? No need to worry and choose Dyman and Associates Insurance. We will assure you that you have chosen leading Business Insurance.

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Tips to know what home insurance covers and what it doesn't

You probably bought
your home policy years ago, then stuffed it in a file somewhere. Will it be
there for you when you need it?

Here's
how to protect yourself:

1. You'll probably
have to fight to get a big claim paid. Homeowners who suffer a loss of $30,000
or more get the most pushback from their insurers over damages, coverage and
slow payouts, ShopSmart's recent survey data shows. But the coverage of huge
losses is exactly why you buy home insurance.

Protect yourself. You
can cut your odds of a fight by doing business with an insurer that pays its
claims. The best carriers for claim-payment satisfaction are Amica, Auto-Owners
and USAA, according to the most recent Consumer Reports National Research
Center survey of 9,905 subscribers who filed homeowner claims from 2010 through
the first six months of 2013.

2. The first offer may
not be your best offer. Consider your insurance adjuster's first offer just an
opening gambit.

Protect yourself. If
you have a dispute over damages, make the adjuster go over the estimate, line
by line, with you and your contractor. Get a second opinion from an independent
contractor or multiple estimates, if necessary.

3. Your trees can
bankrupt you. Linda Paustian of La Porte discovered that after a violent
thunderstorm dropped about 40 hard maple and red oak trees on her home and
property in June 2010. State Farm paid $6,000 to remove the trees that struck
Paustian's 1895 Arts and Crafts bungalow, but nothing of an additional $6,000
that was needed for tree and debris removal and stump grinding.

Protect yourself.
Understand that a standard policy covers trees that fall on insured structures
but generally not those that land in your yard.

4. Your bank might
hold up your check. “Every check sent to
us had to be forwarded to the mortgage company so they, in turn, could write
another check to us so we could pay the contractor,” says Thomas Sloan, who
suffered $33,000 in damages when the remnants of Superstorm Sandy blew a
neighbor's oak tree onto his West Virginia home in October 2012.

Protect yourself. If
you have a mortgage, expect a settlement check made out to you and your
mortgage company. Find out how to get it promptly endorsed and deposited to
your or the lender's escrow account.

5. You may end up with
a lot of damage from a little water. James Peter told ShopSmart that his
California home had $48,000 of damage thanks to a leaking valve in his
refrigerator icemaker that wasn't discovered for months.

Protect yourself.
Check for leaks in bathrooms, kitchens and basements, and on the roof.
Periodically inspect behind appliances. Get add-on insurance coverage for sewer
backups and flood insurance for water threats from outdoors.

6. You may need lots
of cash to pay for repairs. Settlements aren't always paid quickly or in full,
so you'll need cash flow.

Protect yourself. Keep
credit card balances low or pay them off in full each month so you have ready
credit after a big loss. Build an emergency savings fund.

7. Your trusty insurer
may dump you. State Farm lived up to all of its promises to James Lipsett and
his husband, Paul LaRiviere, on their $35,000 water damage claim on their Morro
Bay, Calif., home. But less than a year later, the “good neighbor” people sent a notice of nonrenewal because of the
claim. State Farm declined to comment.

8. Your most valuable
valuables may not be covered. If that diamond ring goes missing, you're out of
luck with a standard home insurance policy. Same goes for expensive furs,
silverware or artwork.

Protect yourself.
You'll have to pay extra for a special endorsement or floater to cover the full
value of pricey possessions.